


Dragon, Warrior, Songbird

by UnhappyWalrus



Category: Wandersong (Video Game)
Genre: Bard is bipolar because I am bipolar and I'm kinning, Bard/Miriam is gently implied but they are not in an official relationship, Dragons, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Non-Graphic Violence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, also everyone can swear now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:33:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24500875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnhappyWalrus/pseuds/UnhappyWalrus
Summary: Amidst the cacophony of color and song that is the reconstruction of the universe, a lone streak of light through the sky goes entirely unnoticed.  The foreign body plummets towards the mountains in a ball of flame, the subsequent crash as it collides into the rocks drowned out by the planet’s synchronous voice.  Long after the voice has quieted, the object is still, buried in the mountains as only a hill under a blanket of white.  Snow builds and ice forms underneath the deep layers as weeks pass, silent and undisturbed.Finally, something emerges.There’s a deep rumbling from underneath the ice and rubble, then a burst of white as something springs forth from the snow.  Two enormous wings pierce through, extending slowly, icicles crackling off of the scales they once clung to.  The beginning of a snout is next to appear, hot breath from two wide nostrils melting the surrounding snow.  The entire pile of wintry wreckage shudders and crumbles as the creature shakily begins to stand.A bone-rattling roar tears from the creature’s throat, and it is free.
Comments: 14
Kudos: 45





	1. Friends New and Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the culmination of a story idea I've been developing for over a year now! I hope you all enjoy and stick around to the end, because there is much, much more to come!
> 
> Though it is not yet relevant, Bard does have Bipolar Disorder and some of their struggles with it will become clearer in further chapters. It is not the main focus of the story by any means, but there will be talk about mental and emotional issues.
> 
> There are no trigger warnings for this chapter, though there is some cursing.

Though it’d been a long while since Bard was visited by Eyala in their dreams, the instant they slipped into sleep they knew her presence was near. 

The landscape of their dream began to form around them, wisps of cloud weaving into earth and tall trees growing to staggering heights in mere moments. Every surface seemed as though it had been touched by sunset, with shifting hues of red, orange and pink that sometimes dipped into vibrant purple. Patches of grass sprouted around Bard’s feet and billowed in the strong, but strangely silent, gusts of wind.

As the land continued to grow beyond where they could see, Bard spoke out into the silence.

“Eyala? Are you there?” They called, surprised by how their voice hardly traveled as it was instantly muffled by the misty air. 

In response they heard nothing, but the presence remained, so they called again, this time cupping a hand around their mouth to yell.

“Eyala!” 

Once again their voice did not echo, and there was no answer.

They stood alone for a moment, confused and scanning the still developing horizon. Suddenly, they remembered that they had a far better tool than words at their disposal, laughing a little at themselves before they began to sing.

Immediately the land responded, fog dispersing around them and the wind regaining its sound to echo each note. 

The wind carried Bard’s song like a message, its path visibly carding through the brush and trees and leaving small bursts of color in its wake. Then, as quickly as it had left, the wind returned, gently brushing past Bard’s feet. They smiled, recognizing the response to their call, however faint. Bard continued their song, striding eagerly in the direction of the returning breeze. 

The wind blew stronger the deeper into the forest they ventured while the trees grew ever thicker. Soon the once vibrant hues of the world around them grew dark as crisscrossing branches overhead dampened whatever light had given them their color. 

Bard slowed then, suddenly uneasy, and their voice trailed off into silence. What pigment remained in the land drained away the moment their singing stopped. The fog their music had been keeping at bay began to creep back all at once along the forest floor, flowing eerily over rocks and twigs as though it were water. 

Now properly frightened, Bard swallowed and cleared their throat, voice hitching slightly when they started to sing again and walk more briskly.

The fog was swept away by the wave of song, and a very faint pulse of color echoed through the trees before being drowned again in the inky blackness. Every step forward the wind grew colder and harsher until Bard could see the puffs of their breath suspended in the frigid air. 

Snowflakes began to fall, slowly at first, and pepper the ground and trees wherever the gales carried them. Within moments, however, what was once a mild flurry grew into a fierce blizzard, obscuring the land behind a veil of snowfall. Bard’s eyes watered and their throat burned with cold, straining to hear their own voice over the wind howling through the trees. Their feet stumbled as the forest floor became covered in snow by inches, then feet. They noticed belatedly that their hat had been blown away, but they could not be bothered to care while focusing solely on remaining upright and singing away the ever encroaching dark.

There were no more trees to offer protection as Bard trudged forward, and the freezing wind buffeted their cloak, threatening to rip it away as well. Their voice barely a croak now, Bard gripped the fabric around their shoulders, squeezing it tight against their body although it did nothing to protect them from the cold. They looked up to see an enormous mountain looming over them, distantly familiar, before finally succumbing to the exhaustion of dragging their feet through the deep snow, falling silent with a choked whine. 

All of Bard’s energy was now focused entirely on remaining standing against the relentless wind, the tendrils of darkness creeping towards them hardly even registering in their blurred vision. They knew if they fell, they’d keep falling...and falling, and falling... cocooned by snow, freezing and alone, drowning in powdery white.

Sinking.

Suffocating. 

_Help help help-_

Eyala’s voice echoing in their mind jolted them from their stupor and Bard’s entire body jerked, shaking their head and squinting against the blizzard. They stared down at the endless snow and gasped when a heartbeat of light, wounded and slow, resonated from somewhere deep underneath it. 

Horrified, Bard fell to their knees, digging through the snow by hand to try and uncover that drowning voice. The wind quickly claimed their cloak, but they did not stop, fingertips thoroughly numb as they sifted through the ice and snow. She was under there, they knew. 

Just as fast as they shoveled it out, snow cascaded inwards to fill the gaps. Bard heaved for air, exhausted, limbs numb and covered in frost, but still they refused to stop digging. They had to reach her before...

Before…

Bard’s frantic digging slowed to a halt, suddenly struck with the realization that something was watching them.

Waiting for them to look.

No longer in control of their own movement, Bard’s gaze drew upwards, inch by inch, agonizingly slow, blinking the frost from their eyelashes.

They saw claws, sharp and bright, then a horrible figure, pulsating with an energy so violent they could hardly perceive it. It dominated their vision, so close it obscured even the silhouette of Ichor Mountain behind it. They saw an enormous head with dark, dark eyes, and a beastial maw that opened slowly, bright white teeth glowing against the background of a pure black mouth. It breathed in and Bard was sure that the force could inhale their very soul.

An ear-splitting, earth shattering roar shook the ground apart, crumbled the mountain into stones, made the very sky crack until the clouds and stars flowed out like ink, dripping off of the broken line of the horizon.

Bard fell through the snow as it gave way to nothingness, and they screamed.

\---

Bard shot up from bed drenched in a cold sweat, pulse hammering in their ears. They looked around their room frantically, jaw clenched and spine painfully stiff. Sunlight peeked through the curtains of their bedside window and as their hearing returned they could pick up the song of early morning birds. Forcing themselves to take a deep breath, Bard yanked open the curtain, exhaling loudly in relief when they were greeted by grass and leaves instead of endless snow.

The spike of adrenaline started to fade then, leaving them to calm their breathing and properly adjust to being awake. They were now much more aware of how their nightshirt clung uncomfortably to their back, thoroughly saturated in sweat. With a grimace and an audible noise of disgust, they peeled their shirt off as quickly as possible and tossed it across their bedroom, not caring where it may land. Their throat was slightly sore, too, Bard noticed with a frown, and they surmised that they must have actually yelled in their sleep. They rubbed their eyes before stretching with a long groan, wincing at how their spine popped, as they began to slowly process the night’s events.

Bard knew that this was no average nightmare. Though it’d been over a year since they had any sort of contact with Eyala, the signs were unmistakable. Why, then, didn’t she speak to them directly? She’d certainly never been shy about fully appearing to them whenever and wherever she desired in the past, so why would she communicate so cryptically now? Was something keeping her away? 

They swallowed hard, running over the details in their head, trying to decipher a meaning in them as they started dressing in clean clothes. Even if _they_ didn’t have the answer, Bard at least knew of someone smart enough to find it.

Though Bard hadn’t originally planned to get together with Miriam that day, they supposed a potentially prophetic dream was as good a reason as any to make a surprise visit. It was still very early, as evidenced by their loud yawn at the thought, but they were certainly not going to be able to fall back asleep, and at a walking pace they’d arrive at Miriam’s home at an acceptable time.

They’d managed to get into everything but their boots, struggling to put the second one on while standing, when a sudden and frantic knock at their front door startled them into losing their balance and falling straight down to the floor.

“Bard!!” they heard a familiar voice call from behind the door. 

Immediately they smiled, relieved just to hear her. 

Not bothering to put on the other boot this time, Bard scrambled up from the ground and rushed to the door, briefly fumbling with the lock before yanking it open. 

Miriam seemed surprised, her hand lowering slowly as though she had just been preparing to knock again.

“I guess I don’t need to apologize for waking you up,” she said, looking over Bard’s outfit with a quick glance, “Were you really getting ready to go out this early?”

Bard’s only reply was to step outside and wrap their arms around her, squeezing her probably a little too tightly. Their grin widened when she chuckled nervously and gently returned the hug.

“Okay...thanks? But that doesn’t really answer my question,” she laughed, now trying to pull free of their embrace.

After another quick squeeze, Bard reluctantly let go, retreating back into their doorway.

“Sorry. I’m just...happy to see you,” they said, now feeling a little bit embarrassed by their own eagerness. “And I was actually just about to come visit you.”

“...With only one shoe?” Miriam asked, and Bard followed her gaze down to their feet.

Bard huffed and lifted their shoe-less foot with a quiet chuckle. 

“Yeah, well...it’s been a weird morning,” they mumbled before backing up further and gesturing for Miriam to come inside. Miriam followed, closing the door behind her and leaning her broom against the wall.

“That’s kind of why I’m here, too, actually.” Miriam took a seat at the small kitchen table that sat snug against the wall, right next to a window. She watched as Bard removed their shoe, unable to suppress a smirk while watching them kick it off to land somewhere near the other. 

“Well you came all this way, so...You go first, then, and I’ll start tea.” Bard gave her an expectant nod, which she knew meant she could continue talking as they moved around their kitchen. Miriam let out a long sigh, equally exasperated by and fond of her friend’s fussing over her, though she’d learned by now that it was impossible to talk them out of it.

“There’s been...something going on,” Miriam started after taking a deep breath, tracing her painted nails nervously over the intricate patterns of the wooden tabletop. Bard looked over their shoulder at her as they pulled a small jar of an overhead cabinet.

“What do you mean?” They asked but still continued their work, now moving a kettle to the stovetop.

“It’s something with my magic, I think. Sapphy’s magic too.”

Bard’s movements noticeably slowed and they fumbled a bit with the dishes they pulled from the cupboard.

“Something...bad?” Bard murmured, casting her a worried glance.

“I…” Miriam paused, wincing as her friend’s expression grew increasingly concerned, “Honestly, I don’t know. Maybe?” She put up her hand when Bard started to put down what they were doing, “I just said _maybe._ Don’t freak out.” 

Bard reluctantly turned back to the counter, opening the small jar they’d taken from the cabinet to pull out two teabags, then cleared their throat as a quiet prompt for Miriam to continue.

“It’s kind of hard to explain. It feels...weaker. We can still use it fine, but it’s like it’s harder to reach, if that makes sense. Further away.” She continued, now bouncing her leg nervously.

With a contemplative hum, Bard set each teabag in its respective cup, tracing the tip of their index finger slowly down the curve of one of the smooth, ceramic handles.

“That definitely _sounds_ bad,” they said, “I mean, I’m no witch, but…”

“Well it’s definitely weird. Sapphy says magic tends to fluctuate sometimes, but this is the first time she’s ever felt something like this.”

After a moment of quiet contemplation, Bard suddenly perked up, turning around quickly.

“Oh! If Sapphy doesn’t know what’s going on, maybe the witches in Mohabumi can help?” They said excitedly, eyes briefly drifting to Miriam’s broomstick by the door, “They have that big school, right? And we haven’t been on a trip together in a while...We could-”

“No, they don’t know anything about it, either.” Miriam interrupted, feeling terrible for cutting Bard off and how it made their enthusiastic expression wilt, “Sorry… I already talked to them.”

“Oh...okay.” Bard murmured and their gaze fell to the floor, cheeks flushed a little, “So, you wrote to them?”

“No, I…” Miriam swallowed heavily, voice quiet, “I went to Mohabumi by myself.”

“Oh.” 

Miriam winced, guilt heavy on her chest as she watched her friend’s cheeks grow even redder and their fingers knit together nervously. “I’m really sorry, I know you like to travel together, and I do too! I just didn’t want to worry you in case this turned out to be nothing.”

Bard shrugged and shook their head, trying their best to perk up.

“I understand. I probably wouldn’t have been a ton of help, since I don’t know magic and all that.” They laughed quietly, looking back up again with a faint smile, “And I was busy the last couple days, anyway!”

Now it was Miriam’s turn to blush, clearing her throat nervously and looking away.

“Right. Well. It was actually a couple of weeks ago.” _That_ caused Bard to recoil.

“Weeks??”

Both of them flinched when the tea kettle began to shriek, steam escaping the spout in furious puffs.

After a long moment of staring, Bard finally rolled out their shoulders and turned to switch off the stovetop, pouring the steaming water from the kettle into the two waiting teacups. In silence they set the kettle back down and picked up both cups, bringing them carefully to the table where Miriam sat. Avoiding her gaze they sat down and nudged one cup towards her from across the table.

“...How long has this all been going on?” Bard asked, hands fidgeting anxiously on their lap under the table.

“A month-ish. At least, that’s when I started noticing it,” Miriam answered, pulling her tea closer towards herself and waiting quietly for her friend’s reaction.

Bard stared down at their cup, watching the rich purple color of the tea blend swirl and spread through the water as it steeped.

“Do you...not think I’d be useful…?” Bard whispered, looking up slowly with an expression so sincerely upset that it made Miriam’s heart ache, “Or have I been bothering you? Because-”

“No!! No, no, no it’s not that, I promise!” Miriam quickly put out her hand to lift Bard’s chin when their gaze started to lower again, “Of _course_ you haven’t been bothering me. And I _know_ you’d be helpful...you _are_ helpful.” She reassured, letting her hand fall from their face slowly when it was clear they were paying attention, “I just didn’t want to stress you out. I know you haven’t been feeling that great.”

Although Miriam anticipated it, the brief flash of frustration in her friend’s eyes still surprised her a little.

“Oh, well I told you I’ve been fine! You don’t need to keep worrying about me.” Bard brought one hand up from under the table to scratch their cheek, the only outward sign of their annoyance, “I mean, I appreciate it...really, I do!”

“Bard...” Miriam chided gently.

“I’m _fine_ , Miriam.” Bard repeated a bit more firmly, looking at her with a strained smile that Miriam recognized as a plea for her to drop the subject.

Miriam sighed deeply, tucking her hair behind her ear, and reluctantly moved on.

“Regardless, I knew you’d throw everything into helping no matter what, so I wanted to wait until I _knew_ it was actually something worth worrying about.”

Bard nodded, listening intently, though their eyes still betrayed some of their hurt.

“Well, now I _do_ know. ...That it’s worth taking seriously, at least. I still don’t know what’s causing it and neither does any other witch I’ve talked to, but...” Miriam continued after taking a deep breath, expression darkening, “...Last night I had this dream-” Immediately her friend snapped up straight, eyes wide as they leaned forward.

“So did I!!” they exclaimed, gesturing to themselves and then to the door frantically, “That’s why I was-! This morning, when you showed up-!! That’s-”

Miriam nodded nervously. “Yeah. That’s why I came to see _you_. I figured that if you and I both had the same one…”

Bard hummed in understanding, looking down at the table again as they recalled the events of their nightmare. “...Eyala visited me in mine, kind of. But I didn’t get to talk to her, or even really hear her, I just knew she was there,” they grew quieter as they continued, “I kept trying to find her, and I ended up at Ichor mountain.” They swallowed hard. “But then…there was…”

“...A monster?” The witch questioned, to which her friend nodded grimly. “That’s how mine went, too.”

“So...what does that mean, then?” Bard reached forward to grasp their teacup and carefully brought it to their lips, having grown impatient waiting for it to properly steep. “If Eyala wanted to warn us about something, why wouldn’t she just say what it is?”

“That’s what has me really worried,” Miriam replied, “What if she can’t? If something out there is making my magic harder to reach, then maybe that same thing is making it harder for her, too. This might be the best she can do right now.”

Bard took a hesitant sip of their tea, their gaze unfocused as they grew lost in thought.

After a long few moments of silence while Miriam allowed her friend to think, Bard grumbled, voice slightly muffled by the drink still held to their mouth. “Making us deal with _more_ end of the world stuff seems kind of unfair.” The witch laughed at that, which made them smile.

“Yeah, and barely even a year after the last one,” Miriam smirked, letting out a deep, exasperated sigh and running a hand through her hair. “But...I’m really hoping that it’s _not_ another ‘end of the world’ level problem.”

Bard nodded in acknowledgement before taking another small sip of their tea, grimacing as they now regretted not letting it steep long enough. They set it back on the table before speaking again.

“What you’re saying is that we’re going to Ichor Mountain, though, right?” they asked, not bothering to hide their excitement at the prospect, “I mean, if there’s a problem, even if it’s not an end-of-the-world problem, and we know exactly where it is, then we have to go help, don’t we?”

Miriam, though amused as always by Bard’s sudden excitement, still took a shallow breath in through her teeth. “I wouldn’t say we know _exactly_ where it is; Ichor mountain isn’t exactly small. And there’s also the huge monster we both saw, in case you forgot about that part.”

“We’ve dealt with all kinds of big monsters before, and it’s not like we’re going to _fight_ it!” Bard cast another eager glance towards Miriam’s broom, now fidgeting restlessly in their seat, “We have to at least find out what’s going on before it gets too cold and snowy to travel out there.”

“It’s _always_ too cold and snowy there in my opinion, but…” Miriam trailed off and stared quietly for a long while, enjoying drawing out Bard’s wide-eyed anticipation, before finally sighing with a sag of her shoulders, “...Fine. I guess we’re going to Ichor Mountain.”

Bard leapt from their seat to lean over the table and pull Miriam into a crushing hug, too wrapped up in the embrace to notice the witch stabilizing their teacups with a magical wave of her hand.

“Yes!! _Finally_ we get to fly together again!!” Bard released Miriam only after she patted them firmly on the back in a silent request to be let go. They giggled excitedly and spoke quickly to keep up with their racing thoughts. “How long of a trip is it to fly to Ichor mountain from here? Longer than a day, right?” Bard was already looking around their home, not leaving a moment's pause for her to answer. “It’s not _too_ cold up there just yet...I should probably still bring my old jacket, though. I haven’t worn it in ages...where did I end up putting it?”

Miriam let her friend continue talking themselves through their thought process as she sat back down with a quiet sigh, taking her teacup into her hands and finally taking her first sip. 

\--- 

Preparing for the flight to Ichor Mountain took Miriam and Bard longer than they originally anticipated, and by the time they had gotten together what they needed for a long trip and said a proper goodbye to Sapphy, it was well into the afternoon. Still, it was far better to be prepared, Bard reasoned, though they made a mental note to think of something to make it up to their friend for having to fly such a long distance with the added weight of a passenger and both of their bags.

The view of the world from the clouds was something that Bard had sorely missed. At such a height all the colors of the ground wove together like an intricate quilt, patches separated by seams of dirt roads and quiet towns. The encroaching fall season painted the landscape with a gorgeous palette of reds, yellows and oranges, and flocks of migrating birds occasionally passed by, flying opposite of the cool breeze.

As they flew further and the warm, fiery colors of fall became dotted with bits of evergreen, the intimidating peak of Ichor mountain grew ever closer, its upper half already covered in snow and mist. Both Bard and Miriam paid particular attention to the treeline as they grew nearer, any casual conversation trailing off in favor of focusing on the ground. 

Balancing slightly against Miriam’s back, Bard carefully pulled a pair of binoculars from their backpack, using them to look over the rolling hills in more detail. A small, but still apparent plume of smoke caught Bard’s attention as their gaze passed over the base of the mountain range, so they followed the wispy trail to where it began. Their eye was drawn to a valley near the foot of the mountain, between it and one of its lesser peaks, where a small clearing in the trees was just barely visible and only discernible as such from this height due to the lack of evergreen trees.

“I think I see smoke.” Bard spoke up, patting Miriam’s shoulder and pointing out the spot where they were still focused in with their binoculars.

Miriam startled a little, giving a quiet hum of concern. “Yikes. Not really what you want to see in a forest this big.” 

“There’s not a lot of it, and I don’t think it’s coming from the trees. It looks like it's probably coming from that little valley.” Bard pointed again when it was clear that Miriam was struggling to see where they were referring to. After another short moment, she spotted the clearing and nodded.

“Alright. As the one flying, I’m making an executive decision to _not_ land directly where the smoke is. I’ll land a ways away and we can approach it on foot.”

Though Bard would have preferred to remain in the air as long as possible, they trusted Miriam’s judgement, so they carefully stowed away their binoculars and tightened the straps of their pack, stretching their toes in their boots as they prepared for descent. The pine trees that had been only vague green dots from the sky grew larger the lower they went, and the icy facade of Ichor Mountain somehow became even more foreboding as they neared the ground.

When they finally dipped down below the trees and reached the forest floor, Bard eagerly hopped off of Miriam’s broom before she could properly land, their feet landing on a patch of dry leaves with a satisfying crunch. They stumbled as their legs were slightly wobbly from the long flight, but quickly regained their balance with a breathy laugh. Miriam carefully brought herself to the ground to dismount, stretching out her legs and back with a groan.

“Okay...that clearing you saw should be just ahead,” Miriam said quietly, “We should be careful. Even if it’s not coming from whatever we’re looking for, smoke means there could be something dangerous.”

Bard nodded, though Miriam could tell they were only half listening, their eyes eagerly taking in every inch of scenery. They took a deep, rib-spreading breath through their nose and sighed contentedly, looking over their shoulder to smile at Miriam and gesture for her to follow.

Miriam walked behind them, broom in one hand while the other fidgeted restlessly, igniting tiny harmless sparks of magic with every snap of her fingers. Noticing her unease, Bard began humming a quiet melody and slowed so they could walk side by side.

“I’ve never actually been here before,” Miriam whispered, looking up beyond the tops of the pine trees to take in the looming sight of the mountain, “That...looks a lot bigger from the ground. Can’t believe you climbed that.”

“Well, I did have a lot of help!” Bard said with a grin, looking up at the rolling clouds and squinting against the bright sunlight, “I wonder if we’ll see any of those birds... Maybe it’s too cold for them already. I’m sure they’d help us up the mountain if we needed it!”

Miriam chuckled quietly and shrugged, adjusting the strap of the bag over her shoulder. “I’m good with my broom, thanks.”

The two continued walking straight through the brush, stepping through paths laid by fallen leaves and pine needles that rustled under their feet. Bard hummed along to the cadence of the breeze as they went, the comforting energy of their music putting both of them at ease. 

It was nearly half an hour of walking later that Miriam grabbed Bard by their backpack, yanking them backwards harder than she intended and eliciting a startled yelp.

“Ack-! Miriam-!”

Miriam shushed them, eyes narrowed in concentration as she peered past them.

“...What is it?” Bard whispered, squinting ahead, trying to follow her line of sight, “Is that the clearing up ahead? I don’t see anything…What-”

“There’s something up ahead, I can feel it. It’s big,” Miriam said, pulling a little gentler on her friend’s bag to position them behind her and giving them a serious stare, “Let me go first.” Bard stared back, eyes wide, and responded with a sharp nod.

With a deep breath, Miriam held out her free hand in front of her and shut her eyes, clearly deep in concentration as a dim, glittery light emanated from her fingertips. The light split into four shiny threads, snaking down her arm and torso until they reached her feet, two of them tracing the outlines of each of her shoes. The remaining pair zipped across the ground towards Bard, leaving a faint shimmering trail where they rustled through the forest floor. Bard flinched, a little bit startled, but forced themselves to stand still as the two ribbons of magic conformed around the shape of their feet before vanishing with a faint pop.

Miriam finally exhaled and shook out her arm, lifting one foot and kicking it across the leaves. To her own clear amazement, her step did not make a single sound. She turned around to look back at Bard, eyeing their shoes with a questioning stare. In awe, Bard stomped one of their feet down too, giggling excitedly when their step was silent as well.

“Whoa, Miriam!! That’s-!” Bard was cut off when Miriam shushed them, her cheeks bright red.

“I’ve been practicing,” she mumbled, unable to suppress a grin before she cleared her throat and turned back around, “Whatever, not important. Follow me, and hush.” Bard, still smiling, hummed in understanding and followed her lead, marveling at how silent their approach had become.

As they drew closer, it was evident that the clearing was much larger than they had originally expected. The open area was littered with huge boulders, old chunks of the mountain dislodged ages ago, that loomed over the tall grass and patches of wildflowers.

When they came upon the final row of trees, Miriam held out a hand behind her, signalling for her friend to stay put. Bard complied, watching intently while Miriam crept forward, looking around carefully for several moments before leaving the cover of the remaining pine trees. She quickly and silently darted behind a cluster of large rocks before finally motioning for Bard to follow.

Taking a deep breath and holding it, Bard rushed through the tall grass, hunched down slightly, sighing in relief when they finally reached Miriam’s side.

“Do you see anything?” They whispered, a little bit winded from their sprint.

Miriam raised her head up and over the edge of the rock, squinting as she scanned the valley. 

“Not yet.” She replied just as quietly, putting down her broom so she could brace both hands against the stone, “But I can feel that there’s-” she cut herself off abruptly, freezing in place and leaving Bard in tense silence.

“...What? What is it??” Bard asked frantically, their voice raising just slightly in worry.

“Binoculars, binoculars!! Binoculars, _now!!_ ” Miriam hissed, reaching a hand out expectantly and glaring down when her friend just stared up at her, dumbfounded, “Bard, _the binoculars!!_ Hand them to me!!” 

Bard jolted when the request finally processed, nodding quickly and sliding the bag from their shoulders, fumbling with the zipper before digging around the front pocket and pulling out the item she requested, placing it in her awaiting hand.

The witch held the binoculars up to her eyes and adjusted the focus with shaking hands, fixating on a figure in the distance.

“What do you see?? Can I come up??” Bard whispered, scrambling to their feet without waiting for an answer and accidentally elbowing their friend in an effort to squeeze next to her.

Miriam grunted at the hard nudge to her side but didn’t budge, locked in place as she stared off at something Bard couldn’t yet see. Before they could ask for them, Miriam practically shoved the binoculars into their hands.

“To the right. In front of the rocks,” she murmured, the words barely audible, “Do you see it?”

Bard blinked several times to adjust their eyes to the distortion of the lenses, looking around aimlessly for a few moments before Miriam finally turned their head to force them to focus in the right direction.

At first they struggled to perceive what they were looking at, analyzing each detail and shape as separate parts. 

Something green standing out against the browns and grays of the boulders, similar in color to the meadow grass in which it rested...Not just something, but a figure, separate limbs, individual scales refracting sunlight. Sharp ivory spines lining the contours of an enormous, strong back...two leathery wings, folded tight. 

A reptilian head pillowed by grass, fanning the flowers around its nostrils with each powerful exhale of smoke.

The unmistakable form of a slumbering dragon.

Bard felt their mouth go dry.

“You see it now.” Miriam whispered, noticing how her friend tensed and held their breath.

“Yeah. I see it.” Bard croaked in reply without turning their head, unwilling to tear their gaze away, “A dragon? A dragon. There’s a dragon.”

“Yes.”

“A _dragon_ , Miriam.”

“I’m aware,” Miriam huffed, tugging Bard’s cloak to urge them to take shelter behind the rock again. Slowly, they did, taking a deep, trembling breath and putting a hand to their chest as though their racing heart was threatening to escape it. The witch patted their knee, waiting for their eyes to meet hers before speaking again, “That has to be what we’re here for.”

Bard nodded briskly. “It’s what I saw in my dream. The big monster.”

Miriam swallowed nervously. “Me too.”

“That energy you were feeling...it’s coming from the dragon?” Bard asked, now squeezing the binoculars tight in both hands just to have something to grip. At Miriam’s responding nod, they continued, “So...it’s taking magic? That’s what’s causing this?”

“It’s possible...but up until today I was definitely sure that dragons weren’t even real, so... I don’t think we can be confident in any theory at this point,” Miriam said, running a hand through her hair with a long sigh, “It’s asleep right now, isn’t it? Check.”

Holding their breath, Bard slowly willed themselves to stand on shaky legs, having to wipe the sweat from their palms before properly aligning the binoculars to observe the dragon again. As before the creature was still, sides slowly rising and falling with each languid breath.

“Yes, I think so.” Bard whispered, turning the dial in the center of the binoculars to try and view the dragon’s face more clearly.

“Good. Keep an eye on it while I go over some spells.”

“Spells??” Bard looked down at her in shock. “But-”

“Not to attack it, dumbass!” Miriam punched their leg a little too hard, her language prompting a little gasp from her friend, “It’s huge, it breathes fire, and I don’t want us to die if it snores or something!!”

“Right, sorry!” Bard shifted their weight over to their other leg, appreciating the apologetic pat Miriam gave to the one she punched. They examined the dragon head to tail repeatedly, fixating on the steady movements of its breathing and grounding themselves through the sound of Miriam frantically flipping through a spellbook beside them.

After long, tense minutes of staring, Bard’s attention was caught immediately when grass rustled just within their sight. They followed the movement with their binoculars, struggling to adjust the focus to the new figure moving slowly through the brush. 

“There’s something else out there,” Bard whispered, blindly reaching out with their foot to get Miriam’s attention.

“Another animal?” Miriam asked, quickly setting down her book so she could stand beside them again.

“I don’t know. It’s a lot smaller. It’s moving.” Bard answered, eyes squinting as they strained to distinguish any features. They gasped sharply when the silhouette raised up slightly, the shape clear now that it was no longer so obscured by the tall grass. “A person. It’s a person.”

“What??” Miriam balked, grabbing a fistful of Bard’s cloak. “Are they going towards the dragon?!”

Bard nodded, swallowing hard. “Yes. Yes. They’re moving faster. They’re…” they trailed off as they continued to trace the stranger’s movements, heart leaping to their throat when they saw sunlight reflect sharply off of an object the person had unsheathed from their back. “No...no no no, they’re going to-!!”

Miriam didn’t even have a chance to question them before Bard had ripped themselves free of her grip, casting the binoculars aside and rushing full speed in the dragon’s direction.

“Stop, **stop**!!” Bard yelled, waving their arms as they approached, almost tripping in their haste to catch up to the armed stranger.

The figure was clearly very startled by Bard’s outburst, straightening up fully and raising their sword in their direction, stance stiff.

As they grew closer, Bard gradually slowed, eyes widening and arms dropping to their sides. The armed stranger lowered their weapon in turn, shoulders sagging as the two stared at each other in awe.

“...Audrey?”

The stranger’s eyes narrowed, their responding groan erasing any lingering doubts as to who they were.

“Oh you’ve got to be fucking _kidding_ me.”

An ear-piercing roar interrupted them both, the only warning given before the dragon barreled towards them.

“ _Move!!_ ” Audrey shouted, rushing past Bard to leap out the way of the dragon’s charge.

Bard barely had time to react, stumbling over their feet and falling to the ground before thundering footsteps sped just past their head, enormous claws kicking up sod and dirt. They could just faintly hear an alarmed shout behind them, almost entirely drowned out by the enraged bellows of the dragon as it pivoted to chase after Audrey, a powerful whir of air sounding above them when its enormous tail trailed behind.

“Bard!!” They heard Miriam scream again, closer now.

“I’m okay!” Bard had to shout just to hear their own voice over the sounds of the struggle between Audrey and the dragon. Their knees wobbled when they first tried to stand, a hand bracing against their shoulder to steady them. The relief of having Miriam by their side was instant, and they gripped her hand tight. “Miriam, it’s Audrey!!” They both flinched at the sound of another fierce roar. “She’s here. She’s trying to hurt it.”

“We need to go _right now_.” Miriam ordered, squeezing her friend’s hand and attempting to pull them away with a strong tug.

“We can’t!! She’ll kill it!!” Bard yelled and tried to yank themselves free of her hold, turning to try and keep track of the action behind them. “We have to help it!!”

Miriam now grabbed Bard’s wrist with her other hand also, pulling on their arm so hard they stumbled. “ _Look_ at that thing!! Do you seriously think it needs our help?? _Audrey’s_ the one who needs-”

Audrey’s own alarmed shout interrupted them, both watching in shock as she was tossed backwards through the grass by the backhanded strike of a clawed foot. The sword was flung from her hands and she rolled several feet across the ground, lying prone and stunned on her back as the dragon stalked towards her. Miriam dropped Bard’s hand, frozen in horror. 

Bard rushed forward just as the dragon lowered its scaly foot onto Audrey’s chest, pinning her to the ground and rearing its head back with a snarl.

“ ** _STOP!!_ **” Bard’s resounding cry was loud even to their own ears, their shout projecting forth with the powerful magic of their voice. 

The dragon’s head jerked upwards in shock and it stared directly into Bard’s eyes, matching their intense gaze with its own. Up this close the creature’s size was staggering, over twice Bard’s height with its head fully raised, but they stood their ground, heartbeat pounding in their ears.

For an achingly long, tense moment the two simply stared at one another in eerie silence before Bard felt a nudge in their thoughts, like a voice trying to creep its way forward from the back of their awareness. On pure instinct they answered the call, allowing entry from this unknown presence.

 _“Well, this is certainly interesting.”_ Inexplicably, Bard could tell the words were coming from the dragon, projected into their mind rather than spoken, the only actually audible noise being the forceful huffs of its breath. The dragon leaned forward curiously to try and draw closer to Bard, the weight of its foot bearing down on Audrey’s chest and making her wheeze as the air was forced from her lungs.

“Nonono, don’t hurt her!!” Bard squeaked, taking frantic steps closer with their hands raised. To their relief the dragon complied, easing the pressure off of Audrey’s chest enough for her to take in a gasping breath, though it did not let her go entirely. “Thank you…”

 _“Do you know this one?”_ The dragon questioned, looking down at the human pinned under its claws, eyes narrowed in annoyance. _“It has given me quite a bit of trouble.”_

“Yes, she’s my friend.”

“Are you _talking_ to it??” Audrey scoffed in disbelief, trying in vain to wriggle her way out of the dragon’s grip. She froze when it lowered its snout closer to her, snorting a puff of smoke into her face, making her cough with a scowl.

 _“Your friend."_ The dragon echoed, head raising as it cast its gaze over Bard’s shoulder to watch Miriam approach, magic crackling from her fingertips. _“And that one...? Is the fiery one your friend also?”_

Bard whipped around to look at Miriam and let out a nervous, breathless laugh as they shifted their focus back and forth between her and the dragon, hands raised between them both. “AH! Yes!! Yes, she’s my friend too!!”

 _“She does not_ **_look_ ** _friendly.”_

“She is!!” Bard shrieked, signalling frantically for Miriam to lower her hands. “She’s friendly!! We’re both friendly! We’re _all_ friendly!!”

 _“This one is not.”_ The dragon growled, looking back down at Audrey who continued to struggle, gasping with effort. It curled its claws in further around where they framed her upper body, and she grunted.

“No, she’s…hmm.” Bard trailed off, humming as they considered their words carefully, “She’s friendly enough. I think she just...doesn’t know you well enough yet.”

“What is it saying to you?? Tell it to get the fuck _off_ me!!” Audrey gripped the claws by her head with both hands, shoving against them to try and pry them away. In response the dragon simply continued to stare at her, baring its teeth just slightly.

“Since she’s my friend, would you...let her go, please?” Bard asked, trying their best to draw the dragon’s attention away from Audrey’s glare, offering it a kind smile despite their evident fear.

The dragon looked back towards Bard pensively, tail swishing slowly through the grass, and ignored their request. 

_“You and your fiery friend both possess magic.”_ Bard could sense the intrigue in the dragon’s statement as it was echoed through their mind. _“And you are both able to wield it?”_

“Bard…?” Miriam slowly eased closer to her friend, movements slow and deliberate so as not to agitate the dragon that had now shifted its focus to her. She reached out to lay a hand on their shoulder, squeezing hard as she whispered. “Are you really talking to it? What is it saying?”

“It...wants to know about magic,” They answered, patting the hand that rested on their shoulder reassuringly when it squeezed harder at their reply. “Don’t worry, I think it’s okay.”

Audrey’s struggles finally halted and she huffed in exhaustion, letting her head thump back onto the grass with a loud, frustrated groan. “Yes, of course, by all means, just go on with your conversation while I am slowly crushed to death.”

“We _are_.” Miriam quipped back, earning a stunned, barking laugh from Bard.

“No!! No we are _not!!_ ” They amended, casting Audrey a brief apologetic glance before looking back up into the dragon’s curious stare. “I’m sorry, we’re both a little bit worried because we’ve never seen something like you before.” Bard cleared their throat nervously, sputtering. “Uh...I hope that isn’t rude to say...”

An amused chuckle vibrated through Bard’s consciousness, making them slightly dizzy at the bizarre and unfamiliar sensation.

_“It is alright. Your kind is unfamiliar to me as well.”_

“Well we don’t _have_ to be strangers! I’m Bard.” They smiled, tipping their feathered cap, then gestured to the witch behind them. “This is my friend Miriam!”

With her hand still clutching her friend’s shoulder and her posture tense, Miriam nodded stiffly and mumbled, “...Pleasure.”

“And of course you’ve already met-” Bard looked down to the grass where Audrey was pinned, words catching in their throat as they watched her manage to yank a dagger from a holster across her chest, the dragon’s grip having loosened enough for her to move. “ **Audrey-!!** ”

Before it could react to Bard’s warning, Audrey stabbed the knife deep into the dragon’s foot.

The dragon yanked its leg backwards with an outraged roar, releasing Audrey out from underneath it. She did not bother even glancing in Bard and Miriam’s direction before she jumped to her feet and fled. Thoroughly enraged, the dragon whirled around to pursue her, jaws closing together behind her with a loud snap.

Without warning Bard was yanked forcefully backwards by two arms around their stomach. They landed on Miriam just in time to watch an enormous armored tail swing right over their head, whipping through the space they had just occupied seconds before.

“Run??” Miriam asked, voice slightly strained from the weight on top of her.

“Yeah.” Bard peeked over their shoulder at her, nodding. “Now we run.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, thanks for reading! Please leave a comment if you enjoyed and let me know what you liked and if you'd be interested in reading more! 
> 
> I do have a rough skeleton for the entirety of this story planned out, but I want to know what you all find interesting or exciting to help me know which points to focus on.
> 
> I will add trigger warnings to the beginning of every chapter if there are any, but if there's anything that I missed, please let me know and I will fix it!!
> 
> I have a twitter, come say hello!! @UnhappyWalrus
> 
> I will be trying to keep up updates for every other weekend (depending on my schedule), so I'm going to do my best to publish the next chapter on 6/13! 
> 
> Thank you all!!


	2. Fairweather

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good gracious this chapter took a lot, LOT longer to get out than I originally planned!! Life has been absolutely crazy, as I assume it's been for everyone over the past year, but hey, new year, new start! Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Trigger Warnings for this chapter include blood and minor violence, though it is not graphic.

Bard and Miriam ran, hearts racing, to the edge of the clearing where the trees grew dense, opposite from where the dragon had chased Audrey into the forest. The sounds of snapping branches, creaking trees and outraged roars became more and more distant before Bard heard Miriam curse, and she skidded to a halt. They tripped over their feet trying to stop themselves, stumbling onto their knees.

“Wh...what-?” Bard started, chest heaving as they tried to catch their breath, pushing themselves to their feet as quickly as they could.

“I left my broom,” Miriam huffed, leaning forward to rest her hands on her knees, “Goddamnit. And my bag. I just dropped it, I wasn’t thinking, I saw you run at that thing and I…” The witch gritted her teeth, taking deep breaths.

“It’s okay!” Bard reached out, resting a shaking hand on her shoulder, “It’s okay, we’ll go back for it! It might be safe now, we can…” They trailed off as they mulled that thought over in their head, doubting even their own plan. “It...we could…”

Miriam groaned, standing up straight and grabbing Bard’s hand where it rested on her shoulder. “No, _I’ll_ go back. You stay here.” She murmured, letting go of their hand after a quick and tight squeeze. “But if you see or hear Audrey and that monster, run. Don’t be stupid.”

When Bard frowned and clearly looked like they planned to argue, Miriam put a finger to their lips, eyes fiery and stern.

“I’ll find you on my broom, got it?”

Bard sighed deeply through their nose but nodded, whispering when Miriam pulled her finger away. “ _Please_ be careful.” Their friend gave a reassuring nod before she took a deep breath and turned around, weaving back through the trees towards the clearing.

After the sounds of her frantic footsteps faded away, Bard was left alone, the forest now eerily quiet, the birds all having been scared silent by the commotion. They swallowed, wringing their hands together anxiously as they stared dead ahead at where Miriam had disappeared into the brush. Though they wanted nothing more than to sing to themselves to fill the silence, they were unsure if it was safe to make that much noise, so, after a cautious look around, they plopped down to the ground with an exhausted huff.

Now that the adrenaline had begun to fade, Bard could feel how their legs burned from their sprint through the forest, and the painful, but familiar, tightness in their chest from anxiety had come back full force. They took deep, rib-spreading breaths to try and alleviate the discomfort, sprawling out slightly so they could lie down and rest their head on their backpack.

Miriam would be back soon, they assured themselves, and they’d be able to find the dragon again on her broom...if it hadn’t run away too far.

But then again, now _Audrey_ was a part of the picture, Bard acknowledged with a grimace. Bouncing their leg restlessly, they thought over what exactly this meant for them both.

Before they had a chance to ruminate further, a distant roar ripped them away from their thoughts and jolted them to sit upright. Another roar sounded, this time from above, and they craned their neck to scan the sky for the source. Through the crisscrossing branches overhead they were just able to see the retreating silhouette of the dragon in flight before it was obscured by the trees.

Bard’s heart began racing again as they pulled themselves to their feet. If the dragon took off, did that mean Audrey had gotten away safely? Or…their heart sank and they swallowed; what if she _hadn’t_?

They panicked at the thought, that they could have truly gotten her hurt, or perhaps worse.

Not even thinking in the moment of their promise to Miriam to stay put, Bard ran full tilt in the direction they estimated the dragon came from. They tore through the trees, stumbling a few times in their haste, while they looked for any signs of Audrey or of her and the dragon’s struggle.

The sounds of birds had returned to fill the forest air by the time they finally found what they were hoping for. In the distance, stood out amongst the dense trees and foliage, was the unmistakable shape of a tent.

Their footsteps slowed as they approached, the trees parting to reveal a small area cleared of leaves and branches, exposing a clean circle of forest floor and dirt. The small tent, a bit worn but sturdily assembled, stood across from a skillfully built firepit. The charred remains of a few stripped logs were left in the center, and the sizable amount of ashes underneath indicated that the pit was far from new.

At the edge of the circle was a half-fallen tree, part of its bark stripped away to reveal its softer flesh. A handful of feathered arrows were embedded in its thick, fibrous trunk, and a bow was propped against its base. With this fairly conclusive evidence that the site belonged to Audrey, Bard sighed, relieved to see that she had left something behind that she would likely want to come back for, even if it was a weapon.

Bard continued their walk around, sliding the bag from their shoulders as the weight of it had begun to make them sore, letting it land gently on the dirt.

Before they could examine anything else too closely, however, Bard heard a quick shuffling to their left, and suddenly their legs were being swept out from beneath them. Their hands shot out too late to stop themselves from falling face-first into the dirt, the bridge of their nose colliding painfully with the solid ground with a sound that reverberated through their skull.

Gasping from the shock of the blow, Bard pushed their torso up off of the ground, eyes immediately starting to water from the pain radiating from their nose and forehead. They tried to wipe the grit and tears from their face with the back of one hand, stunned by the sight of blood staining their glove and dripping from their nose onto the dirt.

Through the ringing in their ears Bard heard a voice from above, laced with venom but unmistakable.

“How did you find me?”

They saw Audrey’s boots enter the front of their clouded vision.

Bard coughed, trying to wipe their face in the crook of one elbow, not thinking in the moment of how the blood would stain their clothing. Shakily they pushed themselves to their knees. They heard Audrey shuffle backwards in response, her sword clanking against the metal of its scabbard where it was strapped to her back.

“Hey- no! Stay where you are.” Audrey warned, eyes narrowed and posture tense. “I’m serious. You and your friend...Miriam, right? How did you find me? Why are you out here?”

Ignoring her warning, Bard continued to stand, making it to one knee before Audrey wrenched them the rest of the way up with two hands gripping the collar of their cloak. They didn’t have time to even voice their surprise before they were hoisted up even further and their back was shoved against a tree. It took a few moments of catching their breath for their brain to process what was asked of them, thoughts sluggish and slurred.

They blinked frantically to clear the tears from their vision, looking back into Audrey’s intense glare. Bard saw her gaze dart down to look below their eyes, hostility fading into something softer before she released her grip, though still remained close enough to intimidate.

“I told you, I’m not messing around. Answer me.”

Bard, still a little disoriented, raised one gloved hand to try and stifle the blood now steadily dripping from their nose.

“We...We _didn’t_ find you?” Bard started, voice slightly muffled by their hand, trying to readjust their hat with the other, “Or, we weren’t really looking for you in the first place. We were just looking for…” They cut themselves off with a jolt when their thoughts finally caught up to them, eyes wide as they reached out to Audrey with their clean hand, “The dragon!! I saw it fly away...are you hurt?”

Startled, Audrey jerked backwards, leaning away as Bard reached out in concern.

“What?? No, I...” she stared down at Bard’s outstretched hand then back up at them, expression equally wary and confused, “I’m fine…? It’s too big to navigate through the trees; it couldn’t follow me very far.” Eyes narrowing skeptically, she took another step back. “So you _were_ looking for it. How did you know about it in the first place?”

“Well we weren’t expecting it to be a dragon,” Bard laughed breathlessly, “We...Miriam and I, had a nightmare where Eyala was in trouble, and we think she was leading us here.”

At the mention of Eyala, Audrey’s expression noticeably soured.

“Figures she would send _you_ ,” she mumbled, rolling out her shoulders to adjust the strap across her chest. The movement caught Bard’s attention and their gaze drifted to the sword strapped to her back, safely stowed away in a metal sheath. It certainly wasn’t the one she wielded against them when they saw each other last; this one was much smaller and thinner, though surely still plenty dangerous. Noticing that Bard’s attention had shifted to her weapon, Audrey backed away with a hostile glare.

“Well...I don’t care what she told you. This thing is beyond your depth, and hers.”

Bard sniffed, covering their nose with both hands now and growing a little frantic at the amount of blood that was pooling between their fingers.

“Uh...I... _do_ want to hear what you have to say about it, and about other things, but...” they trailed off, voice muffled behind their stained gloves.

Audrey stepped back slightly to look Bard over properly before hissing through her teeth and wincing. She seemed almost embarrassed as she cleared her throat and turned to scan the campsite.

“...Yeah, okay. Here, before you bleed all over everything, let me get-“ She was abruptly silenced by a sharp bolt of energy that shot out from the trees, hitting her square in the back to send her face first into the ground.

Bard shrieked in alarm, swiveling towards the source of the blast and sighing in intense relief at the sight of their friend. “Miriam!!”

“How is it that you, without fail, decide to do the exact opposite of what I ask?” The witch grumbled, shaking out her hand as though the magic she shot from it had stung her fingers.

Though they were glad to see that Miriam now had her broom and her bag, their relief quickly shifted back to distress and they turned to look at Audrey, who now lay dazed and groaning on the forest floor.

“Geez, what did you do that for??” Before Bard could move to check on Audrey, Miriam walked forward, tossing her broom aside to hold their face gently in her hands, gaze fraught with worry. They’d seen a similar look of concern and protectiveness in her eyes before, but the ferocity still made their heart skip a beat. Not wanting to get blood on her dress, they tried to pull back, but Miriam held firm and squeezed their face; that made them laugh a little.

“Are you kidding?! She attacked you.” Miriam let go of them to slip the cape off her shoulders and press it gently to their nose. She frowned sympathetically when the pressure made them wince and hiss in discomfort. “That looks bad. Are you hurt anywhere else?”

Bard shook their head and took Miriam’s cape in their own hands, eyes drifting back to Audrey. “She didn’t attack me...not really. I don’t think she meant to hurt me, anyway.”

“...Didn’t…” they heard Audrey mumble from below, just able to lift her head.

“Who cares what she meant to do?!” Miriam scoffed, pointedly ignoring Audrey’s input. “She nearly got you killed by that thing, and now-“

“...Nearly got _them_ killed?? They’re the reason it almost crushed me!!” Audrey managed to push herself to her knees, groaning with effort and wiping the dirt and debris from her face, “If they hadn’t run in yelling, it would have stayed asleep!!”

“I wasn’t just going to sit there and watch you murder it!” Bard interjected, periodically checking the fabric in their hands to see if their nosebleed was slowing, “I’m sorry that it tried to hurt you when I woke it up, but it _did_ say that you’ve been causing it a lot of trouble...”

Audrey scoffed, dusting off her shirt and rolling out her shoulders, but was cut off by Miriam before she could retort.

“So you weren’t kidding about talking to it. What did it say?”

Sniffling and wiping the blood from their chin, Bard looked between the two thoughtfully. “I didn’t get to talk to it for very long, but it seems like it wants to be friendly. It asked about your magic, too.”

Audrey seemed particularly interested in this detail and hurriedly pushed herself up to her feet, stumbling as her legs wobbled. “I was right. I _knew_ I was right.” She walked towards them, voice raising, “Tell me what it said exactly.” Before she could get any closer, Miriam stepped between them both, jabbing a finger into the center of her chest, eyes narrowed.

“Don’t make me zap you again,” she threatened, to which Audrey gave an incredulous scoff, but heeded the warning, folding her arms.

“I...really, there’s not much more to say,” Bard said nervously, “What were you right about, then…? And why were you trying to hurt it in the first place?”

“You said it was interested in her magic, and I assume you’re both familiar with what’s been going on...since she’s a witch and everything.” Audrey backed up a step, addressing Miriam now with a sneer, “How have your spells been working out lately? A little tougher to cast these days?”

“They seemed to work just fine a second ago. Do you need another demonstration?”

“They have been harder to cast, for her,” Bard interrupted before Audrey could respond, gently elbowing Miriam back so they could step between them. “How did you know?”

“It’s a pretty popular subject amongst magic users right now...it’s not hard to pick up on news like that if you just travel around.” Audrey replied, and at that comment, Bard frowned, “Not that anyone has any idea what’s causing it...Except me. And you two, now, I guess,” she added with a grumble.

Bard fidgeted, looking at Miriam for a moment with concerned puzzlement before returning their gaze to Audrey.

“You’re saying the dragon is responsible, right? But...we can’t know that.” Bard crumpled the bloodied cape in their hand and folded their arms, clearly growing more restless, “You can’t know that.”

“I don’t need any more proof. Otherworldly being shows up, magic goes missing, and now you’ve told me that it has an interest in magic specifically. What more information are you hoping for?”

“How it even got here, for starters!!” Bard nearly shouted, clearly startling Audrey by the way her eyes widened, “And how it spoke to me, where it’s from, what its name is, why it’s here-!! There’s so much more information I was hoping for, and now I might never get to ask!”

Miriam reached out to rest a hand on their shoulder, squeezing gently in an attempt to rein in their frustration.

“That’s not true...we can find it again. It’s enormous, and we found it once already, didn’t we?” The witch murmured, casting Audrey a quick glare, “And this time we can at least reach it without any unwanted interruptions.”

Audrey snorted, rolling out her shoulders to better adjust the sword on her back.

“You can _try_. I’ve been tracking that thing for weeks and I’ve gotten pretty damn efficient. I’m not about to let you both throw away all that effort.”

Miriam’s glare grew colder. “You sure are saying a lot of zap-worthy things for someone who just got hit a minute ago. I could try some stronger spells if you’re really that eager to eat dirt again.”

“ **No**.” Bard interrupted, “No more...zapping, or swords, or anything like that!!” They huffed frustratedly, looking between Miriam and Audrey with an intense stare, “I’m **not** doing this again!! We...we’re going to work together this time. We have a chance to do this differently, to do this _better_ , and I’m not wasting it!!”

Both Audrey and Miriam stared at them in silence in the wake of their words. Audrey was the first to speak up, noticeably less confident.

“This is _my_ chance to do things better too. I’m not working with you...with either of you. You can’t make me-“

“Yes I can,” Bard interrupted, taking a full step towards Audrey, “You’re going to keep trying to hurt it? I’ll follow you. Again, and again, and again. Even if I never understand it, or even get to talk to it again, I can still keep it from you, and _I won’t stop_.”

The staredown between them was tense and heavy with antipathy, meanwhile Miriam could only standby in shock, magic at the ready.

When Audrey backed up a step, Bard sighed, lowering their voice and looking at the ground in quiet embarrassment.

“I-...look. In the end, we both want the same thing this time, don’t we? To figure out what’s going on and fix it...to make things better. If...if there’s even a chance that we can work together to make that happen, shouldn’t we at least try?”

Audrey closed her eyes and took a deep breath in through her nose, jaw clenched.

“I don’t want to fight you. Really, I don’t. And you’re right that I do want to fix things, but what you’re hoping for...to pretend we can just forget everything and solve this as buddies, it’s not going to happen. I don’t know if…” Audrey trailed off, “It just doesn’t work like that.”

Bard looked up, wringing their hands together nervously, but attempting an earnest tone.

“I guess we don’t have to be friends...at least not right away, but I think we can all do this together. I’d much rather do that than spend ages just trying to outrun each other again. Wouldn’t you?”

With a long, labored sigh, Audrey shrugged, anxiously twisting the strap across her chest as she mumbled in reply.

“What if you’re wrong, though? What if, in the end, it’s not interested in just making small talk and it ends up being a real threat to you...to potentially everyone. You’re willing to risk that?”

Clearing her throat awkwardly, Miriam drew the other two’s attention before interjecting. “I’ll just say, for the record, we could always bring this information back to where it’ll do the most good. Y’know, to actual magic users? Mohabumi has witches who study magical phenomena 24/7...don’t you think they’d know best how to handle this thing?”

The witch flinched at the sudden horrified expression both her friend and Audrey had at her suggestion.

“No!” Bard and Audrey said in almost perfect unison, looking back at each other in surprise.

“They’ll hurt it, or someone from somewhere else will!” Bard explained, now turned towards Miriam, “People...people don’t listen or want to be nice when something looks or sounds scary. And if they think it’s causing all these problems then they won’t even give it a chance!”

Audrey didn’t offer any explanation of her own, but shrugged in silent agreement.

Miriam sighed and gestured for Bard to approach her more closely. When they complied, she leaned in, lowering her voice.

“This is a lot, you see that, right? Dealing with magical anomalies, wrangling a dragon, working with Audrey?? This really, really seems like more than we bargained for.” Miriam said quietly, reaching out to brush leaf litter from their hat. Before Bard could reply, she let her hand trail down to their cheek, silencing them with a worried stare. “You don’t have to make it your responsibility.”

Slightly flustered but nevertheless comforted by Miriam’s concern, Bard leaned into her hand, whispering so that only she could hear.

“I don’t have to, but I want to. I _know_ we can do this.” When Miriam frowned skeptically, they amended, “But...if you just want to go back, I promise I won’t be mad.” They fidgeted anxiously as they continued. “I’ll miss you a lot, but you’re right; you didn’t sign up for all this, and we’re so far from home, and we only brought one tent and I know how much you hate the cold-“

The witch shushed them, dropping the hand from their face with a roll of her eyes. “Don’t be stupid, I’m not leaving you out here alone. If we’re really doing this, then it’s going to be together.” Scowling, she looked over Bard’s shoulder to where Audrey stood behind them, clearly deep in thought, “...Even if ‘together’ has to include her now. Plus I’m about 100% sure she’d just ditch you without me here to keep an eye on her.”

Bard yanked Miriam into a crushing hug, whispering a quiet ‘thank you’ and squeezing her tight before letting go to turn back to Audrey.

She shifted uncomfortably when the pair’s attention returned to her, clearing her throat.

“So…” Audrey started with a deep sigh.

“So…?” Bard echoed hopefully, a smile beginning to grow on their face.

“It doesn’t seem like I really have much of a choice, but it’s true that I’d rather avoid having to chase each other around again.” Audrey readjusted her posture to one of more confidence, “But I do have a couple of things we have to agree on.”

Bard nodded hesitantly. “Okay…?”

“First off, if either of you have binoculars, I’ll be taking a pair, since, thanks to you, mine were trampled.”

With a short laugh, Bard shrugged, looking over to where their bag lay in the grass. “Sure, I guess that’s fine.” They looked back at her with a slight smile, ignoring Miriam’s quiet scoff, “What else?”

“I don’t want to talk about what happened before. Eyala, the Earthsong, the Overseers...none of it.”

“That might be kind of hard to remember...but I’ll try.” Bard replied a little nervously, “I mean, I do really want to know what happened when we lost track of each other, but if you don’t want to talk about it-“

“I don’t.” Audrey said.

After a quick sigh, Bard nodded again. “Okay. Is that it?”

“Just one last thing.” Audrey rolled out her shoulders, jostling the sword strapped to her back. “If and when you find out that monster won’t be persuaded into playing nice, you two can’t stand in my way anymore.”

For a moment Bard was silent, meeting her intense gaze with one equally harsh, but after a beat they smirked, eyes burning with fierce determination.

“Fine. But _you_ can’t bring your sword when we find it again, and once I do make friends with it, you have to admit we were right.” They took another few seconds to think before adding, “And you have to tell it you’re sorry.”

Miriam spoke up from beside them, mumbling, “And tell _us_ you’re sorry; I’d almost consider that the most important condition. You can do that right now, preferably.”

Audrey pointedly ignored Miriam’s request, only acknowledging her with a narrow-eyed glare. To Bard she rolled her eyes, shrugging.

“Sure, if you pull this off, I’ll say whatever you like. And without a weapon I won’t be in any condition to save you once it decides to burn you both to a crisp, but fine. Fine!” She threw her arms in the air exasperatedly, sliding the strap off from over her shoulder and tossing her sheathed sword to the side. “Consider it a deal.”

Audrey initially extended her hand to shake on the agreement, but seeing Bard’s blood-soaked glove she retracted it, clearing her throat. Bard initially stared at her in offense before looking down at their own hand with an understanding laugh, wiping the dried blood from their upper lip on their sleeve.

“Right. I’ll apologize for _that_ right now, actually,” Audrey said, face slightly red, “I’m sorry about your nose. There’s a river just east of here, if you’d like to clean off your gloves...and face...and shirt.” She looked over to where Bard had dropped Miriam’s cape, “And that.”

Miriam pat Bard on the shoulder reassuringly. “Go on ahead, I’ll catch up with you.” When her friend nodded then took a few steps in the wrong direction, she sighed and pulled them gently back by their collar, pointing, “East is that way.” Their giggle at their own mistake made her smile.

Once Bard had cleared the campsite, the witch approached Audrey until they were inches apart, making the difference in their height much more stark. Miriam loomed over her as they stared at one another in tense silence, wind whistling through the trees around them. Finally, Miriam hissed,

“Welcome to the ‘team’, Audrey.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so, so much for reading!! The response I've gotten so far has filled me with joy... This project means so much to me and it's such a pleasure to share this bond of creativity with all of you over my all-time favorite game. 
> 
> The next chapter is actually pretty much done already, but it was getting kind of long so I decided to split it into two for ease of reading, and because I really wanted to put part of it out sooner. If you're upset the dragon didn't make much of an appearance in this chapter, don't worry; it gets a lot more focus for the rest of the story!
> 
> Hopefully this was worth the wait, and I look forward to posting the next chapter very soon! If you're enjoying it, please leave a comment to let me know what you think! Until next time (which will be within the next week, I promise)!!


	3. Kaleidoscope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew!! Third chapter finally done, and now the dragon gets to make its second, far grander, entrance! This one was good fun to write, and I hope it's just as much fun to read!
> 
> There are no trigger warnings for this chapter, though there is some cursing.

Bard and Miriam returned from the river to find Audrey sitting next to the unlit firepit, hunched over a map. At their arrival she only lifted a hand, giving a half-hearted wave with her head still down in stubborn concentration.

“Well, she didn’t try to run off, at least,” Miriam said, prompting a quick, irritated glance upwards from Audrey.

“Shut up. If you have a tent, set it up already. I didn’t find one in their bag, so I hope it’s in yours.”

“You went through my stuff??” Bard asked incredulously, eyes darting around to try and spot where they left their backpack only to find that, indeed, it lay open and disorganized next to Audrey’s tent. “You can’t just do that!!”

Audrey reached beside her and held up their binoculars, blowing a raspberry. “You owed me these.”

Scoffing, Bard rushed over to their bag, rifling through it to ensure she hadn’t taken anything else.

Miriam resisted the urge to cast a spell Audrey’s way as she returned to poring over her map. “Eya above, you are the  _ worst _ .” 

When she didn’t reply, the witch rolled her eyes, looking to her friend who had stuffed their belongings back into their bag to re-zip it closed with a sigh.

“Well, we  _ do _ have a tent, actually. It’s in Miriam’s bag!” Bard sat up, suddenly excited, which made Audrey look up, puzzled by their reaction. “I still can’t believe Saphy let you borrow it!”

Miriam cleared her throat awkwardly, setting it down and opening the top. She reached deep inside, arm seeming to disappear as it phased through the magic, bottomless bag. Audrey jolted at the sight, eyes wide while Miriam pulled out the long tent poles one by one. Bard applauded, still as entertained by the display as they were when they first saw it.

“Right, uh… She may not have  _ let _ me, exactly, but she won’t even miss it. It’s not like she has much use for an enchanted bag these days.”

Bard stopped mid-clap and shook their head, hugging their own backpack to their chest with a quiet sigh. “Well, we should probably still apologize for that when we get back. I hope she’s not mad…”

“Please, she  _ adores _ you. If anything  _ I  _ should be the most worried about getting chewed out for it.” The witch pulled out the rest of the pre-assembled tent pieces and tossed them aside, trying to judge where best to begin.

Meanwhile Audrey had yet again stubbornly returned her attention to her map, refusing to look up even when Bard scooted closer and tried to look over her shoulder.

“Sooo...what’s all this?” Bard said, cautiously pointing to the paper. “Is it a map of the valley?”

“Yes. You’re as sharp as ever.” Audrey mumbled sarcastically, shooing their hand away.

“Uhh...Thanks!” They replied with a gentle, nervous laugh before leaning in closer, squinting. “What are all the circles?”

Despite her scoff of annoyance, Audrey explained, “All the potential places the dragon might land.” Contrary to her tone, she actually seemed slightly eager to elaborate, “It can’t take off where the trees are too dense, and it won’t leave the mountains, so it’s only able to land at these spots.”

“That’s pretty cool. Where are we, then? And where’s the place we were just at?” Before she could answer, Bard poked a circle located somewhat central on the map, “Oh! Is that it?”

“Yes, it is. Good for you, now quit touching it!!” She elbowed them in an attempt to get them to scoot away, and groaned when they didn’t budge.

“Sorry! I just want to be able to help...You said it yourself; you know the most about it, and we’re a team now, so... teach me! What have you figured out?”

Still clearly annoyed by their physical closeness, Audrey sighed dramatically before starting to trail a finger across the arrows, circles and lines that were scattered across her map.

“Like I said, it won’t leave the mountains, so there’s a limited number of places we’re going to be able to find it next. I doubt it’s going to be coming back to where it was today, and it’ll stay circling for hours now before it picks a new spot.” She tapped a couple circles towards the edges of the map with a grimace, “Most likely it’ll end up over here, which is pretty far away.” Her finger traced a few red lines and arrows, “These are the fastest routes, and I have some treestands set up in those areas.”

Having overheard the two’s conversation, Miriam looked over from where she was partway through assembling the tent. “Sweet Eya, is this all you’ve been doing since we last saw you?? Do you not have any hobbies? Or  _ friends _ ?”

Before Audrey could reply, Bard cut in with a clear of their throat, patting her hand to regain her attention, “So!! When do you think we’ll be able to find it again?”

“Tomorrow.” Audrey folded the map and stood up, shielding her eyes with one hand to look up towards the sky. “It’ll land before dark, but there’s no point in going anywhere until we’re sure, and navigating at night isn’t worth the risk.”

Bard craned their neck upwards to follow her line of sight, squinting, but seeing nothing of interest. “Are you sure it won’t go too far away…?” When Audrey looked down to nod at them, they pressed, “What’s stopping it from leaving Ichor Mountain?”

Audrey shrugged, retrieving a bag from beside her tent, continuing to talk as she rummaged through her belongings. 

“‘Dunno, it just never has,” she said before looking back at them and sneering, “Maybe you can ask it during your next chat.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Bard replied, too deep in thought to catch her sarcasm. Their attention drifted to their friend who had nearly finished pitching the tent without assistance, though she was huffing from the effort. Feeling guilty for leaving her to do the majority of the work, Bard rushed to help, giving her an apologetic smile.

Miriam mumbled a quick ‘thanks’, stretching out her back once the tent was fully secure. Looking over the camp and Audrey with a wary frown, she whispered so as not to be overheard, “I’m  _ really _ not sure about this.”

Bard reached out to squeeze her hand reassuringly, smiling when she squeezed back. “We can make it work! We already made it through the end of the world; I think our odds look pretty good.”

—

The next morning Bard rushed out of the tent bright and early, taking care not to wake their friend as they slipped on their boots and stepped out into the cold breeze. The forest floor was still blanketed in a thin layer of frost, and they could see each puff of their warm breath suspended in the air, reminding them of the dragon’s smoke and sending a jolt of excited anticipation through their limbs.

Audrey seemed to have beaten them to the punch as she was already sitting in the center of camp, hunched over a small, dwindling fire. Hearing their footsteps, she jerked her head up.

“You’re up?” Audrey said, shocked.

Bard nodded, taking a deep breath of crisp mountain air with a wide smile. “Yep! I couldn’t really sleep anyway.” They walked over to sit beside her, ignoring her annoyed scoff in favor of enjoying the warmth of the firepit’s embers.

“Figures, I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“What do you mean?” Bard asked, stretching out their gloved hands to let the fire warm their fingers.

Audrey waved a hand nonchalantly, shrugging. “Y’know. With your whole...you...thing? Being all hyped up and positive and whatever. I bet you hardly sleep at all.”

“I  _ love _ sleeping,” Bard mumbled, shuffling their boot through the dirt, a bit self-conscious, “I’m just excited to get to  _ talk _ to a  _ dragon _ . Is that so weird?”

Noting that they took clear offense to her comment, Audrey cleared her throat awkwardly, poking at the fire with a stick she reached to pick up from the ground. “I guess not. It doesn’t really matter as long as you’re not too tired to hike.”

Bard shook their head, electing to move on with a quick sigh and a smile. “I’m not, I’m ready to go!” They assured her.

“Great. But we’re not going anywhere until it warms up a little. I’m fucking freezing.”

Wincing a little at her language, Bard stretched out their legs and stood. “Yeah...me too. I’ll go get a blanket.” Audrey made a face, so they amended, “Two blankets!”

Before they could go back into their tent to retrieve what they wanted, Miriam poked her head out from inside, hair frizzy and eyes squinting in the sunlight.

“Is it outrageous to ask that you sleep to a normal hour? At least for my sake?”

“I’m sorry!! I thought I was being quiet…” Bard apologized, though they were admittedly delighted to see Miriam’s adorable bedhead and to hear her slurred, sleepy voice. They couldn’t help but smile and laugh, cautiously brushing the stray hairs from her face.

“I’m furious,” she growled with (mostly) exaggerated anger, swatting their hand away and disappearing back into the tent for a moment before re-emerging with her bag to toss into Bard’s arms, “Make tea or we’re no longer friends.”

“Sorry, Miriam!!” Bard repeated, fumbling with her bag. When they turned around, flushing at the realization that Audrey had surely witnessed that interaction, they saw that she was no longer at the firepit, or anywhere in camp that they could see.

“Uhh...Audrey? Audrey??” They called with growing urgency, turning around to search for her.

“Quit yelling, I’m up here.” Audrey said, prompting Bard to swivel around and crane their neck upwards to find her sitting fairly high up in a tree, addressing them with a half-hearted wave.

“Oh. ...Why?” They walked to the trunk of the tree, looking up at her with puzzled amusement.

“Checking if the skies are clear.” She explained, starting to shimmy back down with practiced ease, “And they are, but clear skies or not, we won’t need to bother with hiking.” Before Bard could question her answer, she hopped back onto the ground from the lowest branch, “It’s back where it was yesterday, the clearing closest to us. I can see the smoke.”

Bard jolted, eyes wide. “You said it’d fly far away...all the way across the valley!!”

“Well, it didn’t.” Audrey grumbled, smirking slightly at Bard’s expression, “Lucky you, huh? Looks like you really got its attention.”

Despite their earlier excitement, Bard swallowed nervously, mouth suddenly dry as the reality of their enormous task confronted them full force.

“You wanted a chance to try and reason with a magic-eating monster, you’ve got it. Wanna wimp out now while you’ve got all four limbs intact?”

Taking a deep, calming breath and closing their eyes for a moment, Bard hugged Miriam’s bag to their chest, heart still racing.

“No way! I’ve got this, you’ll see. I’m gonna make friends with that dragon, we’ll figure out the Earth’s magic problem, and then we’ll fix it!!”

“After breakfast.” Miriam called out from the tent.

“Yes!” Bard agreed, echoing her with a nod, “ _ After _ breakfast!”

—

Their trek through the forest was short and eerily quiet as the three kept mostly silent, Audrey leading the charge. The closer they grew, the more anxious Bard became, wringing their hands together.

“Can you see it yet?” They whispered, trying to peek over Audrey’s shoulder through the opening in the trees.

Audrey nodded. “Yep, and it’s wide awake now.” 

When she stepped aside to let Bard have a better look, they shuffled forward and peered through the brush. Just as Audrey said, the dragon was laid in the grass, head upright and alert. 

They stumbled forward when Audrey gave them a too-firm pat on the back, tumbling to their knees in the grass. The dragon’s head snapped towards the sound of their fall with unnerving speed.

The moment Bard breached the safety of the treeline they could feel the dragon’s gaze fixed directly onto them. With its back arched threateningly and head low, it rose to its feet, massive tail swishing in agitation. They felt the same prickle at the back of their mind as the dragon approached cautiously, and with a deep, nervous breath, Bard let the presence through to their thoughts.

_ “I know you’re not alone. If you and your friends have come to cause trouble, I must warn you that I will not be so restrained as before.”  _

Somehow the words carried malice despite not being said aloud, making Bard’s stomach lurch with anxiety. With Miriam’s help they pushed themselves back upright, patting the dirt from their knees. As they were unsure exactly how the creature understood their side of the conversation, they opted to yell in case it needed to hear their physical voice from this distance.

“It’s okay, we don’t want to fight!” They took a couple nervous steps through the grass, sparing a quick glance behind them at where Audrey and Miriam were waiting, “We all agreed to be nice! We just want to talk to you!”

_ “You approach first, then.”  _ The dragon stood its ground, claws curling into the dirt.  _ “Prove that you are peaceful, then your friends may come forward.” _

Bard swallowed, having to clear their throat before turning their head to address their friends behind them. 

“It...it wants me to go towards it alone, first. Wait until I tell you to follow me.” When Miriam’s expression shifted to one of dread and Audrey’s to anger, Bard added quickly, “Please? It’ll be okay. Trust me.”

Audrey mumbled something under her breath that Bard couldn’t hear, but judging by Miriam’s punch to her arm, they guessed it was some form of mockery.

“If it tries to hurt you, I won’t hold back on it, Bard. I mean it.” Miriam warned, her eyes burning with ferocity. Though they wholeheartedly hoped it wouldn’t be needed, the promise of her protection still made Bard’s chest swell with warmth.

“It won’t,” they reassured, taking a deep breath to steel themselves before turning back around to face the dragon still looming in the center of the clearing. 

Just one step closer had Bard’s heart hammering and a chill creeping down their spine. Both they and the dragon were silent as they slowly made their approach, one wary step at a time. The closer they grew, the more jarring the dragon’s size and stature became. Bard could see with growing clarity each sharp spike that framed the dragon’s spine, and the long, hardened bone of its two rear-facing horns. They could see and hear each deep inhale from its powerful lungs, and could feel its fiery golden eyes trained on their every movement.

Time felt as though it had stopped entirely when Bard finally halted in front of the massive creature, only a couple arms’ lengths away from its snout. At this distance they could feel the puffs of hot air from its nostrils, strong enough to billow through the feather on their cap.

The dragon’s shoulders relaxed and it lowered its arched back, raising its head back up. Bard laughed breathlessly in utter disbelief, their legs suddenly shaky from the sight of the dragon standing at its full height. Before they could brace themselves, their knees wobbled and buckled under them, dropping them gracelessly backwards into the grass.

Bard heard the dragon make a high rumble from deep in its throat before its snout was lowered to their level again, now craning its neck forward to get closer. Bard felt its smoky breath right against their face, heart leaping to their throat in fear and anticipation.

_ “You fell.” _

The bluntness of the observation and slight concern in the dragon’s tone made Bard burst into laughter, struggling to normalize their breathing and slow their rapid heartbeat before replying.

“It’s just...You’re...very big!” With legs still shaky, Bard pushed themselves to their feet. “But that’s okay, you seem nice!” They straightened their cap and took a deep breath before offering an open hand, fingers trembling. “Do...I seem nice, too?”

The dragon pressed its scaly snout against Bard’s gloved palm, sniffing loudly before snorting out a short puff of smoke, like a sneeze, Bard thought with a giggle.

_ “Yes.  _ **_You_ ** _ seem nice.”  _ It rumbled, raising its head to peer past Bard towards the trees, “ _ It is the warrior and your fiery friend that concern me.” _

“Warrior...you mean Audrey?” Bard asked, looking over their shoulder to where she and Miriam were waiting, “It’s alright. I made her promise she won’t hurt you again...and she didn’t bring her sword.” They turned back with a smile, holding their hand in front of the dragon’s nose and smiling wider when it once again pressed back against them. “And Miriam is always nice! She was just afraid of you before.”

The dragon grunted audibly in reply, the sound a low, thoughtful rumble.

After a moment of stillness to allow their heartbeat to settle, Bard withdrew their hand.

“Can I tell my friends to come over, now?” They asked quietly.

_ “I suppose so. Though my warning still stands.”  _ With a dull thud the dragon set its rear legs and tail onto the ground to sit upright, eyes narrowed skeptically.

Letting out a long, nervous sigh, Bard turned back towards the edge of the clearing, waving and cupping a hand over their mouth to yell.

“You can come over here! It said it’s okay.”

Despite being given permission, both Miriam and Audrey stayed behind the trees for several moments. Bard was about to yell for them again when finally Audrey stumbled forth from the brush, apparently having been shoved judging by the murderous glare she cast at the witch behind her. After regaining her balance, she took a hesitant step forward. 

With each step that Audrey took, Bard could feel the dragon’s growing animosity creep through their own thoughts like a dark, heavy fog. By the time she’d reached the center of the clearing, the fog felt almost electric, crackling with rage as the dragon and Audrey locked eyes.

When, after several moments, this tense staredown showed no signs of breaking, Bard cleared their throat loudly.

“So! This is...Audrey. You’ve met her before. Several times, she said.” They started, standing between the two.

_ “Yes. She tried to kill me every one of those times.”  _ The dragon growled, tail whipping and thumping against the ground in agitation.  _ “For days on end she would not leave me be. She has set traps among the trees, chased me from valley to valley...She is an unbearably persistent nuisance.” _

Bard turned to Audrey with an exasperated sigh, taking a moment to think over exactly how to translate the dragon’s words to her.

“It’s...mad at you for trying to hurt it, and chasing it around. And setting traps.”

“Oh, is it? Well I’m not too happy with it either, given it almost crushed me yesterday.” Audrey scoffed, arms crossed tight over her chest. “And maybe, if it doesn’t want to be chased, it shouldn’t be-“ She jolted when she felt Miriam’s hand on her shoulder, not having heard her approach.

“Will you shut up for once and let Bard talk to it before it decides to eat you?” Miriam hissed, squeezing Audrey’s shoulder and pulling her back a few paces.

Bard winced, worried at how the dragon would react, but when they turned around to try and apologize, they only saw it looking at them expectantly, head tilted slightly.

_ “What did your friends say?”  _ It rumbled,  _ “How does the warrior justify herself?” _

“You can’t understand them?” Bard asked, quietly relieved.

_ “I am only speaking to you, currently. I do not know your language if not through you.”  _ The dragon lowered its head to once again glare at Audrey,  _ “And  _ **_she,_ ** _ of course, has never bothered to speak with me.” _

Bard scratched their chin thoughtfully for a moment, trying and failing to work out the exact logistics of the dragon’s abilities in their head before shrugging.

“Huh. Well...she...let’s just say she’s not being very apologetic yet.” They ignored Audrey’s incredulous huff, “But...I think she’ll change her mind once we get to know you better!”

_ “I am not so sure. But so long as she remains peaceful, I will as well.” _

Chuffing, the dragon slowly lowered the rest of its body to the ground, tucking its legs in to settle into the grass and slowly stretch out its enormous wings. Bard marvelled at how the sunlight shone from behind the leather, just thin enough to allow light through and illuminate its iridescence into a shifting rainbow of color.

Bard stepped forward and reached their hand out to the dragon’s snout again, curiosity now fully overtaking their wariness.

“Is...is it alright if I touch you? I mentioned earlier that we’ve never seen something like you before, so..if it’d be okay…?” They trailed off, a little embarrassed and hoping they hadn’t upset it, but the dragon only chuckled through their thoughts, folding its wings back to its sides.

_ “Go ahead.” _

Laughing a little in excitement, Bard stepped forward eagerly, taking their right glove off to touch the bridge of the dragon’s sleek snout. 

The texture was bizarrely smooth, their fingers barely registering each individual scale as each one overlapped with the others seamlessly. 

Now emboldened, they let their hand slide across its scales as they moved to the side of its head and reached up towards one of its long horns. The scales surrounding it were rougher and keeled slightly, they noticed, running their fingers over the solid bone.

The dragon seemed to enjoy Bard’s marvelling, chuffing low in its chest and lowering its head to allow them to reach it more easily.

Bard followed the slope of its horn with their whole hand before moving on to what they were most curious about. They approached the dragon’s wing excitedly, stroking over the velvet-smooth leather with both hands, turning their head to look over at Miriam and Audrey who were both watching in tense silence.

“Miriam, come on!! I know you’re curious!” They said with an encouraging smile, “It said it’s okay as long as we’re nice.”

Before Miriam could respond, Bard was suddenly knocked over when the dragon extended its wing without warning, audibly rumbling in a way that crudely resembled laughter. Bard laughed too in reply, lying flat on their back and gazing upwards as the dragon’s wing extended out fully, the shadow of it large enough to cover them completely. From this angle the sunlight shone through it even more brilliantly, casting a faint rainbow onto the grass below. 

_ “Your curiosity is very flattering. Is there truly no creature like me in your- rather, this world?”  _ The dragon said, a little smug.

Bard shook their head, sitting up and holding out their hand to observe the colorful pattern of the dragon’s wing projected onto their palm. 

“Not that  _ I’ve _ ever seen. We have some stories and songs about dragons, though.” They looked to their side upon hearing approaching footsteps, smiling widely at Miriam as she slowly and cautiously joined them under the dragon’s outstretched wing. “Isn’t that right, Miriam?”

Miriam said nothing, being similarly awestruck at seeing the dragon up close.

_ “So you already have a term to describe me? ‘Dragon’...How interesting.” _ With a thoughtful and audible hum, it lowered its head to rest on the grass, still keeping a wary eye on Audrey who was now stubbornly seated on a rock a fair distance away.

Suddenly a bit embarrassed, Bard crawled out from under the shelter of the dragon’s wing to address it face to face.

“Oh...I’m sorry, is there something else you’d rather be called? I never even bothered to ask…”

The dragon seemed to contemplate this for a moment before it replied.

_ “However you wish to refer to me will do. My name does not have a translation in your language.”  _ It lowered its wing to the grass but kept it unfurled so it could still drape over Miriam’s head.  _ “What sorts of stories are shared about ‘dragons’? Are they favorable?” _

Bard scooted closer to the dragon’s side, slowly leaning against it and enjoying how warm the sunbathed scales felt against their back.

“Well, when I was a kid and got scared during thunderstorms, my mom used to tell me that thunder was a big dragon practicing ballet,” Bard giggled at the picture the thought conjured in their mind, “That always made me less afraid.”

“Sapphy always said it was two witches having a spell casting contest.” Miriam had crawled out from under the dragon’s wing and was seated in the grass across from her friend.

Bard smiled at her before turning their head to see how Audrey was faring, chuckling at the sight of her now sprawled over the rock on her back, seeming terribly bored.

“Come over here, Audrey!!” Bard called out, gesturing for her to come forward, “You’ve got to know some stories about dragons from when you were little...come tell us!”

Audrey lifted her head slightly in response, expression thoroughly unamused.

“I know a few, sure, but none that  _ you  _ would like, I’m guessing,” she muttered, reaching below her to languidly twirl long strands of grass between her fingers, “Like Cinderscales-”

Bard smiled, interjecting excitedly. “Oh! I’ve heard that one! Why wouldn’t I like it?” They stretched out their arms and legs, settling in more comfortably against the dragon’s side. 

“Cinderscales was a big dragon that lived inside a volcano.” Bard jumped slightly when the dragon snorted curiously and curled its long neck so it could look directly at them as they continued. “Whenever he got angry, the volcano would erupt! So, a brave villager-

Audrey sat up with a grunt, resting her head in her hand with an elbow propped on her knee.

“-stabbed him through the heart, and the town below was finally safe from the volcano.” Audrey finished for them, “I’m surprised you don’t remember that part.”

Bard frowned, disturbed by the gruesome picture Audrey’s description painted in their head.

“That’s not how it ends.” Bard muttered, crossing their arms across their chest.

“Maybe you just remember what you wanted to hear.”

Miriam conjured a ball of snow in her palm and beamed it at Audrey’s head, catching her off guard and knocking her backwards off of the rock she sat upon.

“Maybe  _ you’re  _ just obsessed with stabbing things.” Miriam quipped, snorting at the fiery glare Audrey flashed her when she stood back up, face covered in snow. The dragon also seemed heartily amused, its chest rumbling in its mimicry of laughter.

_“I saw the image the warrior seemed to inspire in your mind,”_ The dragon said while Bard held Miriam’s hand and quietly chided her, _“Perhaps I should not be surprised that she sought to slay me if your stories are so hostile towards similar creatures.”_

With a deep sigh, Bard pulled their knees to their chest. “Well they’re not  _ all  _ like that...and that’s not how the story is supposed to end anyway,” they murmured, “Besides,  _ you’re  _ not breathing fire or erupting any volcanoes.”

“But it  _ is  _ the reason magic is disappearing. Funny how you haven’t asked about that yet,” Audrey brushed the snow from her hair before taking a few steps forward, gesturing to where the dragon was laying its head, “And based on the smoke, I’m sure fire breath isn’t too far off...I bet it could torch you, me, and this whole valley in no time.”

The dragon’s tail thumped loudly against the ground and it slowly raised its head, watching Audrey’s slow approach with narrowed eyes. Slightly panicked, Bard jumped to their feet, patting the side of the dragon’s neck and looking at Audrey warily. Miriam stood, too, but stayed frozen in place, unsure if she should act.

“Could you  _ please _ walk slower?” Bard asked quietly, but with clear urgency. They could feel as well as hear the growl building in the dragon’s throat, raising in volume with each of Audrey’s steps. “It’s not going to ‘torch’  _ anything;  _ I already told you it doesn’t want to hurt us.”

_ “I see...is  _ **_that_ ** _ what she finds so loathsome? My affinity for fire?”  _ The dragon bared its teeth in an open-mouth snarl and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke,  _ “She will be delighted to know, then, that I cannot use it.” _

“You can’t breathe fire?” Bard echoed the information for the benefit of the others present, giving Audrey a stern look as they continued to stroke the dragon’s scales in what they hoped was a comforting manner. In response, Audrey slowed to a halt and eyed the dragon skeptically while, to their side, Bard heard Miriam let out a relieved sigh.

The dragon’s growl quieted and trailed off into a faint, low pitched hum.

_ “I do not know how. The manner in which the magic of your world operates is a mystery to me.”  _ Its tone seemed strangely mournful,  _ “I no longer have the ability to wield it in even the simplest ways.” _

Bard frowned, reaching up on their tiptoes to rub between two of the spines that lined the dragon’s back.

“So, you’re not from here, and things work a lot differently here than what you’re used to,” they said quietly before looking straight at Audrey, “That sounds frustrating...and scary. ...Doesn’t it?”

Audrey rolled her eyes and scoffed before walking a few steps closer, keeping in mind to move more slowly. 

“Give me a break, it’s not some misunderstood, helpless little animal,” she managed to suppress a flinch when said creature let out an aggressive snarl at her continued approach, “It clearly knows enough to take what it wants from us, doesn’t it? How have you  _ still _ not mentioned that?”

“Because,  _ Audrey,  _ to put it frankly, I don’t have any reason to trust your judgement!” Bard raised their voice, standing in front of the dragon’s raised snout, “Specifically when it comes to dealing with large, powerful creatures that talk.”

Bard heard a quiet snicker from Miriam behind them before they saw Audrey’s face quickly turn pink. She stopped walking and cleared her throat, casting her gaze to the ground.

“Well...whatever.” She grumbled, arms folded and ears red, “But that’s why you came here in the first place, because of magic being drained, and you really haven’t questioned yet whether or not this massive, otherworldly thing could be the cause??”

“She actually does have a point,” Miriam spoke up from behind Bard, walking closer but still clearly wary standing so close to the dragon’s head, “We  _ both _ saw it in our dream, and I told you that there’s a seriously powerful aura coming off of it. You have to at least ask.”

Bard’s shoulders sagged and they scratched the back of their neck, skin prickling at the feeling of the dragon’s warm, smoky breath over their shoulder. Seemingly sensing Bard’s emotional shift towards discomfort, the dragon made a curious clicking sound and nudged their back with its nose, making them jump a little from the unexpected touch.

_ “What do your friends have to say?”  _ It questioned, looking between the three humans quizzically.

Taking a deep breath in and out, Bard turned to address the dragon face to face.

“They’re...worried that you’re eating magic,” they explained quietly, looking at it with a hopeful smile, “But...that’s not true, right?”

The dragon snorted loudly as though it were scoffing.

_ “Certainly  _ **_not._ ** _ As though magic could just be consumed...What an absurd, barbaric notion.”  _ Bard’s sigh of relief was cut short when the dragon continued.  _ “I am merely taking it.” _

Bard’s displeasure at this answer was clear in their expression and the strained tone of their voice when they replied.

“Oh.”

_ “Does that alarm you?” _ the dragon asked, the sound of its heavy wings shuffling against the grass making Bard jump. Miriam, too, was startled at the movement, putting a hand on their shoulder and backing them up when the dragon began to stand again.

“Um...a little bit?” Bard whispered, resisting Miriam’s attempt to pull them back further, but not shrugging off her grip entirely, “We...do need it. Magic is important, here.”

As the dragon pondered this response, Audrey moved in quickly beside Miriam, grabbing Bard’s other shoulder and squeezing it none too gently.

“Do you two trust my judgement  _ now _ ??” Audrey growled to them both, voice and posture tense as the dragon was now fully on its feet.

The dragon looked over the trio with a skeptical glare, shifting and slowly curling its tail as though it were deep in thought.

_ “I see. That is how you found me. First the warrior, then the two of you. You were drawn here by magic.”  _ It backed up a couple of steps, arching its back defensively at the realization,  _ “And there are more of your kind. They may come for me as well.” _

Bard shook their head, yanking themselves free of both Audrey and Miriam’s grips to follow the dragon cautiously as it continued to back away.

“No...no! No one is coming for you...We just want to help. I want to help!” They insisted, growing frantic when the dragon’s wings began to unfurl.

_ “So you  _ **_say._ ** _ ” _

Unsure of what else they could do, Bard hummed a quiet melody, focusing hard on each note in the hopes that doing so would help the dragon to hear them more clearly. Though they had no control over its presence, they could feel the familiar divine force of their voice flowing behind each note. 

The song seemed to work as it brought the dragon to pause and blink thoughtfully, entranced for a moment by the soft sound. But, when Bard tried to move closer again, hand outstretched, it reared up, knocking them backwards with a gust from one strong beat of its wings.

From where they landed on the ground they were unable to watch the dragon sprint across the clearing, only hearing the heavy stomps of its feet and the air rushing under its wings as it took off. 

Audrey and Miriam were yelling something, possibly at them, possibly at each other, but Bard couldn’t make out the words over the final thoughts the dragon projected to them even as it was now nowhere in sight.

_ “Your land may be foreign to me, but I am no fool. If you truly desire to help, then when we next speak, you must be alone.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus ends the third chapter...thank you for reading! If you're enjoying the story so far, please do let me know what you think and what you'd like to see more of in the future!
> 
> In the first draft I had a whole story made up for 'Cinderscales' that I, at the time, thought was fun to have Bard tell, but in editing I deemed it unnecessary as it slowed things down. It makes sense to me, though, that Bard would choose to remember the version where the big dragon gets to be friends with everyone, while Audrey's memory favors the one where a human slays a monster.
> 
> I also don't have a name lined up for the dragon at all... I've wanted to keep it nameless since it, canonically, really doesn't have any way to translate its true name to a language humans can understand. I worry, however, that referring to it without a name is less enjoyable to read... what do you think? Should the dragon have a name? If so...do you have any ideas? Let me know!
> 
> I hope to have the next chapter up within the next couple of weeks. Until next time!


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